Fertility & birth rates in Nauru and Papua New Guinea

Fertility rate in Nauru vs Papua New Guinea chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Nauru was 3.33 children per woman in 2023, compared to 3.1 in Papua New Guinea in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Nauru vs Papua New Guinea population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Nauru	Papua New Guinea
1960	5.34	6.02
1961	5.38	6.07
1962	5.42	6.14
1963	5.44	6.15
1964	5.47	6.19
1965	5.48	6.2
1966	5.41	6.23
1967	5.29	6.24
1968	5.14	6.25
1969	4.94	6.26
1970	4.74	6.25
1971	4.54	6.23
1972	4.36	6.2
1973	4.19	6.16
1974	4.07	6.11
1975	3.97	6.07
1976	3.9	6.02
1977	3.86	5.96
1978	3.84	5.88
1979	3.85	5.79
1980	3.88	5.71
1981	3.94	5.65
1982	3.99	5.59
1983	4.06	5.56
1984	4.11	5.51
1985	4.14	5.47
1986	4.15	5.42
1987	4.14	5.36
1988	4.11	5.3
1989	4.07	5.24
1990	4.02	5.18
1991	3.99	5.11
1992	3.95	5.03
1993	3.89	4.96
1994	3.84	4.87
1995	3.81	4.78
1996	3.78	4.73
1997	3.74	4.68
1998	3.68	4.63
1999	3.64	4.59
2000	3.54	4.53
2001	3.46	4.47
2002	3.4	4.42
2003	3.39	4.36
2004	3.38	4.28
2005	3.38	4.22
2006	3.4	4.15
2007	3.5	4.08
2008	3.67	4.01
2009	3.85	3.94
2010	4.02	3.88
2011	4.12	3.82
2012	4.12	3.75
2013	4.1	3.68
2014	4.09	3.63
2015	4.08	3.56
2016	4.03	3.5
2017	3.88	3.43
2018	3.68	3.38
2019	3.53	3.32
2020	3.47	3.27
2021	3.43	3.22
2022	3.38	3.17
2023	3.33	3.1
2024	3.29	3.07
2025	3.25	3.03
2026	3.2	2.99
2027	3.16	2.95
2028	3.12	2.92
2029	3.09	2.88
2030	3.05	2.84
2031	3.01	2.81
2032	2.98	2.78
2033	2.95	2.75
2034	2.92	2.73
2035	2.89	2.69
2036	2.86	2.67
2037	2.83	2.64
2038	2.8	2.61
2039	2.77	2.59
2040	2.75	2.56
2041	2.72	2.54
2042	2.7	2.51
2043	2.67	2.49
2044	2.65	2.48
2045	2.63	2.46
2046	2.61	2.44
2047	2.58	2.42
2048	2.56	2.4
2049	2.55	2.38
2050	2.53	2.36

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Nauru	Papua New Guinea
1960	34.8%	43.4%
1961	35.2%	43.7%
1962	35.7%	43.9%
1963	36.5%	44.2%
1964	37.5%	44.4%
1965	38.6%	44.6%
1966	39.4%	44.9%
1967	39.5%	45.1%
1968	41.3%	45.3%
1969	43.4%	45.6%
1970	42.9%	45.8%
1971	41.3%	46%
1972	39.7%	46%
1973	38.1%	45.9%
1974	36.4%	45.8%
1975	34.9%	45.5%
1976	33.4%	45.2%
1977	31.9%	44.9%
1978	30.9%	44.4%
1979	30.6%	44%
1980	30.9%	43.5%
1981	31.9%	43.2%
1982	33.2%	43%
1983	34.6%	42.9%
1984	35.7%	42.8%
1985	36.5%	42.6%
1986	37.5%	42.5%
1987	38.3%	42.4%
1988	39.2%	42.4%
1989	40.2%	42.3%
1990	41.2%	42.1%
1991	42.1%	41.9%
1992	42.5%	41.7%
1993	42.5%	41.5%
1994	42.1%	41.2%
1995	41.7%	41%
1996	41.1%	40.8%
1997	40.5%	40.6%
1998	39.9%	40.4%
1999	39.4%	40.2%
2000	38.9%	40%
2001	38.5%	39.8%
2002	38.2%	39.5%
2003	37.7%	39.3%
2004	37.1%	39%
2005	36.6%	38.8%
2006	36.1%	38.5%
2007	35.7%	38.3%
2008	35.6%	38%
2009	35.8%	37.7%
2010	36.3%	37.5%
2011	37.1%	37.2%
2012	37.7%	37%
2013	38%	36.7%
2014	38.2%	36.5%
2015	38.2%	36.2%
2016	38.2%	35.9%
2017	38%	35.6%
2018	37.6%	35.3%
2019	37.6%	35%
2020	38%	34.7%
2021	38.3%	34.4%
2022	38.3%	34.1%
2023	38.2%	33.8%
2024	37.8%	33.5%
2025	37.1%	33.1%
2026	36.4%	32.8%
2027	35.7%	32.5%
2028	35%	32.1%
2029	34.3%	31.8%
2030	33.7%	31.4%
2031	33.1%	31.1%
2032	32.7%	30.7%
2033	32.4%	30.4%
2034	32.1%	30.1%
2035	31.9%	29.7%
2036	31.6%	29.4%
2037	31.3%	29.1%
2038	31.1%	28.8%
2039	31%	28.5%
2040	31%	28.3%
2041	30.9%	28%
2042	30.9%	27.8%
2043	30.9%	27.5%
2044	30.9%	27.3%
2045	30.8%	27.1%
2046	30.7%	26.9%
2047	30.6%	26.7%
2048	30.4%	26.5%
2049	30.2%	26.3%
2050	30%	26.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 37.8% of the population in Nauru and 33.5% in Papua New Guinea in 2024, compared to 41.2% and 42.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Nauru and Papua New Guinea compared.

Natural population change in Nauru vs Papua New Guinea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.28% in Nauru and +2% in Papua New Guinea. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Nauru	Papua New Guinea
1960	72	56,326
1961	70	58,151
1962	75	59,974
1963	88	62,260
1964	100	64,558
1965	113	66,693
1966	123	69,206
1967	117	71,519
1968	116	73,983
1969	71	76,454
1970	49	78,712
1971	50	80,599
1972	53	82,672
1973	57	83,821
1974	63	84,829
1975	70	85,809
1976	79	86,965
1977	89	87,954
1978	111	88,747
1979	130	89,330
1980	145	90,266
1981	157	91,767
1982	162	93,522
1983	163	95,982
1984	166	98,103
1985	171	100,333
1986	178	102,346
1987	186	104,367
1988	195	106,256
1989	204	108,199
1990	214	110,033
1991	225	111,453
1992	237	114,818
1993	235	118,668
1994	229	122,113
1995	225	125,410
1996	221	129,802
1997	218	134,458
1998	214	136,677
1999	212	143,592
2000	207	147,496
2001	203	151,431
2002	200	155,091
2003	201	158,611
2004	202	161,023
2005	204	163,888
2006	209	166,540
2007	222	169,306
2008	240	172,823
2009	261	175,421
2010	281	178,998
2011	291	181,842
2012	292	183,658
2013	291	185,790
2014	290	187,592
2015	291	188,600
2016	289	189,281
2017	279	189,715
2018	265	190,662
2019	255	190,662
2020	246	189,130
2021	236	183,766
2022	226	186,861
2023	213	187,637

Maternal mortality chart: Nauru vs Papua New Guinea

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 273 deaths per 100,000 live births in Nauru, compared to 189 deaths in Papua New Guinea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Nauru	Papua New Guinea
1985	191	393
1986	209	386
1987	206	379
1988	202	377
1989	198	369
1990	195	360
1991	216	354
1992	217	340
1993	219	333
1994	220	324
1995	219	318
1996	218	316
1997	218	316
1998	257	325
1999	277	321
2000	278	323
2001	299	325
2002	321	329
2003	323	328
2004	324	326
2005	328	326
2006	304	325
2007	303	326
2008	302	315
2009	300	302
2010	297	289
2011	260	271
2012	255	257
2013	247	243
2014	240	232
2015	253	221
2016	248	214
2017	259	207
2018	269	205
2019	267	199
2020	309	194
2021	266	223
2022	317	189
2023	273	189

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.89% in Nauru and 4.03% in Papua New Guinea. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Nauru	Papua New Guinea
1960	-	19.8%
1961	-	19.2%
1962	-	18.6%
1963	-	18%
1964	-	17.4%
1965	-	16.9%
1966	-	16.3%
1967	-	15.8%
1968	-	15.2%
1969	-	14.7%
1970	-	14.2%
1971	-	13.7%
1972	-	13.3%
1973	-	12.9%
1974	-	12.4%
1975	-	12.1%
1976	-	11.7%
1977	-	11.3%
1978	-	11%
1979	-	10.7%
1980	-	10.4%
1981	-	10.2%
1982	-	9.94%
1983	-	9.71%
1984	-	9.5%
1985	8.62%	9.3%
1986	8.2%	9.12%
1987	7.81%	8.96%
1988	7.43%	8.78%
1989	7.08%	8.63%
1990	6.74%	8.47%
1991	6.41%	8.31%
1992	6.09%	8.17%
1993	5.78%	8.03%
1994	5.49%	7.89%
1995	5.22%	7.77%
1996	4.97%	7.64%
1997	4.74%	7.52%
1998	4.52%	7.41%
1999	4.32%	7.3%
2000	4.13%	7.19%
2001	3.96%	7.08%
2002	3.81%	6.96%
2003	3.66%	6.84%
2004	3.53%	6.71%
2005	3.41%	6.58%
2006	3.29%	6.44%
2007	3.15%	6.31%
2008	3%	6.16%
2009	2.84%	6.02%
2010	2.66%	5.88%
2011	2.48%	5.73%
2012	2.29%	5.59%
2013	2.11%	5.44%
2014	1.93%	5.3%
2015	1.76%	5.17%
2016	1.61%	5.02%
2017	1.47%	4.87%
2018	1.34%	4.72%
2019	1.22%	4.59%
2020	1.11%	4.45%
2021	1.02%	4.31%
2022	0.95%	4.17%
2023	0.89%	4.03%